#46 Kolten Wong

#46 Kolten Wong

First impression of what’s going on: Well, this card has failure written all over it! Starting with Kolten Wong being a Cardinal and then having him trying for a double play against the Cubs? Blasphemy! All kidding aside though, this is a pretty sharp looking card. Nicely framed.

CHICAGO, IL - AUGUST 16: Second baseman Kolten Wong #16 of the St. Louis Cardinals throws to first base to complete a double play as Donnie Murphy #8 of the Chicago Cubs slides into second base at Wrigley Field on August 16, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs defeated the Cardinals 7-0. (Photo by Brian D. Kersey/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: Wow, look at all that open space. And for once, Topps didn’t over crop. The caption says that Wong is throwing to first base to “complete” a double play but it also says the Cubs won 7-0 so how much do I believe that?  I’m going to have to verify that by taking a look at the BOXSCORE.

The caption was right that the Cubs did indeed win 7-0 so I guess Murphy’s attempt to break up the double play doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things though with that score.

The Cubs grounded into three double plays that day, but only one involved Murphy.

The culprit behind it in this case was shortstop Starlin Castro.

This must have been sweet revenge for Wong as he himself killed a rally by grounding into a double play in the top of the second inning.

I don’t think the Rawlings logo on Wong’s glove is visible enough to count it as Free Advertising. And I don’t remember if I counted any previous MLB logos but there is a clear one between Murphy nameplate on the back of his jersey and his helmet. I guess between the two, I can give him a little credit.

Wong is also sporting the Stan Musial Commemorative patch that I briefly mentioned on Matt Carpenters’s post a few weeks back but didn't really go into.

Hall of Famer Stan Musial passed away in January 2013 and the Cardinals wore the patch all season.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Kolten was the 11^th Cardinals player to make his MLB debut in ’13.

That’s kind of crazy. He wasn’t even the last, as they had one more debut in September.

By comparison, the Cubs, who used a team record 56 players in 2013, only had 6 make their MLB debut. Houston led the Majors with 15 MLB debuts while Colorado, Kansas City and Toronto all had the least with 3. Here’s a link to all 230 players who made their dreams come true last year.

The other two Hilo players mentioned but not named in the blurb are former Dodgers pitcher, Onan Masaoka (1999-2000) and former Tigers, Rangers, Padres and Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Villafuerte (2000-2004).

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #46

Player Name: Kolten Wong

Team: St. Louis Cardinals

Position: Second Base

Game Date: August 16, 2013

Opponent: Chicago Cubs

Stadium: Wrigley Field

Division: National League Central

Home/Away: Away

Outcome of the game: 7-0, Cubs over the Cardinals, Loss for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: No.

Bats/Throws: Left/Right

Birthdate: 10/10/1990

Birthplace: Hawaii

Cameos by: Donnie Murphy  (Cubs)

Photographer: Brian D. Kersey

Niche collections this card could fit into: Double Play, Free Advertising, Patch, Former 1^st Round Draft Pick, Rookie Card, Cameo, Partial Southpaw

My Grade: As I mentioned, this is a pretty well laid out card. The crop is good. The action is solid, if not unfavorable to the Cubs. And despite being shown in a poor light here, the Cubs came out victors in the game from which this photo originated. Not every rookie has a decent photo for a card so Wong lucked out here.

It pains me to do this, but I’ll give this card an A. J

#329 Matt Holliday

#329 Matt Holliday

First impression of what’s going on: Looks like Matt Holliday has the beat on a fly ball hit his way. I don’t know much about photography, but I can only imagine the lens needed to get an image that clear from the distance this had to be taken from. Probably one of those that are the size of Prince Fielder’s thigh. Holliday is listed as an outfielder but I believe he plays left field more often than not. So the photographer was probably in/near the first base dugout. Crazy.

ST. LOUIS, MO - JUNE 1: Matt Holliday #7 of the St. Louis Cardinals catches a fly ball against the San Francisco Giants in the seventh inning during game one of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium on June 1, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals beat the Giants 8-0. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: The caption gives us just about every piece of information we’d need about the play. The only thing missing is the batter, but hopefully narrowing it down to the 7^th inning is enough help. Let’s go to the BOXSCORE.

Always nice to shutout the defending World Champions. And for the record, the Cardinals swept the double header by beating the Giants in Game 2, 7-1.

Luckily, there was only one flyball to left field in the 7^th inning and the batter was Nick Noonan.

In addition to being a good photo, the card fits into a couple of niches.

First up, Holliday is another one wearing sunglasses as an accessory instead of eye protection.

We get a sneak peak at a Nike logo on his shoe for some Free Advertising.

The Cardinals wore alternate jerseys for both games in the double header.

And lastly, I don’t actually collect cards of guys named Matt (my name), but I know some people collect cards of people with their names. Holliday is the second player to join the Players Named Matt niche.

I see Bob Gibson peaking but he doesn’t get a cameo appearance.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Matt was the third Colorado Rockies rookie ever to hit a grand slam, 6/12/2004.

I did a quick search but aside from searching every rookie from every season to see if they hit  grand slam, I couldn't find the other two. I did find a game recap where Nolan Arenado hit one as a rookie last season. There was no mention in the article that he was the first Rockies rookie to do it since…so and so did it. Oh well.

Before I forget, tying this card to A-Rod’s card from yesterday is the red text designating a league leader.

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #329

Player Name: Matt Holliday

Team: St. Louis Cardinals

Position: Outfield

Game Date: June 1, 2013

Opponent: San Francisco Giants

Stadium: Busch Stadium

Division: National League Central

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 8-0, Cardinals over the Giants, Win for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: Yes, alternate

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Birthdate: 1/15/1980

Birthplace: Oklahoma

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Dilip Vishnawat

Niche collections this card could fit into: League Leader in Italics, Alternate Jersey, Sunglasses, Free Advertising, Players Named Matt, Unnecessary Censorship

My Grade: I don’t really hate the Cardinals, but I toe the company line when it comes to the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry. Holliday, however, has been on my s-list since this incident a couple years back.

That said, this is pretty nice card. Despite the miscrop by Topps, it hit several niches. I can’t justify giving it any lower than an A aside from my bias.

#327 Pablo Sandoval

We’ve got a couple of connections between yesterday’s card (Dioner Navarro) and today’s. Both were born in Venezuela. Both are wearing sunglasses. But the connection I was trying to make is they are both Switch Hitters.

#327 Pablo Sandoval

First impression of what’s going on: This is another solid photo with a unfortunate crop. No elbows for Pablo! I always like a dirty jersey so without a bunch of obvious niches, the card has that going for it at least.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 5: Pablo Sandoval #48 of the San Francisco Giants fields during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at AT&T Park on April 5, 2013 in San Francisco, California. The Giants defeated the Cardinals 1-0. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: Look at all that elbow room Sandoval has! The caption doesn’t give much to go on so let’s go to the BOXSCORE and see if we can’t figure something out ourselves.

We knew it was 1-0 from the caption, but only nine hits from both teams combined probably puts it on the bubble for an actual pitchers’ duel, right? Throw in another combined 9 walks and the error you have 19 base runners. I don’t know who to give credit (or blame) for on that.

Sandoval had a number of assists in this game and aside from the two double plays he started, it would be tough to rule any of them out.

Kind of a boring card to investigate.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Pablo hit .393 in August of 2008 – highest of any MLB Rookie that month.

That’s impressive, but not necessarily that interesting. On the other hand, mentioned in the blurb, is that Sandoval was a judge at the 2012 Miss Universe Pageant. Kind of random, but here are a couple of photos from the event I found.

Kung Fu Panda posing on the red carpet:

With what I’m assuming are some of the other judges:

I think Sandoval is second from the left

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #327

Player Name: Pablo Sandoval

Team: San Francisco Giants

Position: Third Base

Game Date: April 5, 2013

Opponent: St. Louis Cardinals

Stadium: AT&T Park

Division: National League West

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 1-0 Giants over the Cardinals, Win for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: No

Bats/Throws: Both/Right

Birthdate: 8/11/1986

Birthplace: Venezuela

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Michael Zagaris

Niche collections this card could fit into: Sunglasses, Switch Hitter, Dirty Jersey

My Grade: I thought this one was going to be better when I picked it. The photo is pretty standard for a fielding third baseman, but as I mentioned, I like a dirty jersey and the extra effort that can be assumed from one. The cropped elbows hurt it along with a lack of mini collections this would fit into. The back was also kind of boring too although it allowed me to Google image search the Miss Universe pageant so I’m going to give this one a B-. 

#44 Matt Carpenter

Yesterday I honored the Super Bowl teams with cards from their baseball counterparts. Today, I’ve got two random members of the two World Series teams. Earlier I had a representative of the World Champion Boston Red Sox in Jonny Gomes and now I’ve got one from the runner-up St. Louis Cardinals.

#44 Matt Carpenter

First impression of what’s going on: I’ll try to do this review without letting my Cubs bias shine through. Pretty standard follow through swing. I can live with the bat being slightly cut off on the left but the crop at the top is too tight. I don’t know enough about the Cardinals jerseys, but it looks like an alternate one to me. I think they're regular ones are whiter for home and grey from away?

 ST. LOUIS, MO - JULY 6: Matt Carpenter #13 of the St. Louis Cardinals bats against the Miami Marlins at Busch Stadium on July 6, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo:  You can see that Topps did go with a pretty tight crop, although the photographer didn't leave much room at the top for them to work with. That being the case, I probably would've opted for a different photo, especially since it is just a generic swing. The caption doesn't lead me to believe that the swing was even a particularly important one so let’s go to the BOXSCORE and see how Carpenter did that day.

Well, the Cardinals won, so there's a start.

Carpenter went 1-4 with an RBI and a run scored. He tripled home pitcher Joe Kelly in the bottom of the third to put the Cardinals on the board and later scored on a Carlos Beltran single. But like I said, there’s nothing in the caption to prove this is anything significant and I’m not sure his posture is that of a triple. Although, if you think you've just hit a home run that turns into a triple…maybe.

His other at bats consisted of a fly ball to center, short fly to left and a ground out to the pitcher. It’s tough to tell with his eye line, as it could be any of those of them except for the last one.

After a little research, I see that the red piping and St.Louis (rather than Cardinals) across the front show that this is an alternate jersey. Combine that with the eye black and a commemorative patch, Carpenter has nice trifecta to help him out, despite a below average photo selection.

Photo from the Cardinals Wikipedia page

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Matt’s 11 pinch-hits in 2012 were most since 1954 by a Cardinals rookie

I don’t know the statistics behind pinch-hitting but coming off the bench and delivering 11 times, and as a rookie no less, seems pretty impressive to me. I didn't look too hard for the rookie record or for the 1954 Cardinal rookie but the all-time record for pinch hits in a season (not just rookies) is 28 by John Vander Wal in 1995. That doesn't make me think any less of Carpenter, though as that's a lot of trust by a manager to keep throwing a rookie into that situation.

And it certainly didn't hurt him winning the starting second base job for 2013 and again dominating the Majors at the plate. Carpenter’s blurb mentions that he is only the second person to lead the MLB in hits, runs and doubles since 1911. The other? Pete Rose in 1976. Guess he can’t be mentioned on the card though…

In 1911, Ty Cobb did it, and Nap Lajoie in 1901. That is some pretty solid company to keep. Thanks to a Roger Schlueter article for those tidbits.

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #44

Player Name: Matt Carpenter

Team: St. Louis Cardinals

Position: Second Base

Game Date: July 6, 2013

Opponent: Miami Marlins

Stadium: Busch Stadium

Division: National League Central

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 5-4, Cardinals over the Marlins, Win for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: Yes

Bats/Throws: Left/Right

Birthdate: 11/26/1985

Birthplace: Texas

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Dilip Vishwanat

Niche collections this card could fit into: Eye black, Alternate Jersey, Commemorative Patch, League Leader in Italics, Players Named Matt, Partial Southpaw

My Grade: I've already had a couple of cards I wanted to like but gave only average scores to. This is one I didn't want to like because of the Cardinals affiliation and generic photo but it is going to get a B+ from me. Despite its shortcomings, it racked up on the niche collections and had a solid rookie fact and blurb on the back.